


FIRE / ICE

by aetas_obscura (aetataureate)



Category: Machine of Death - ed. Bennardo/Malki/North, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-02
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29805798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aetataureate/pseuds/aetas_obscura
Summary: "The machine had been invented a few years ago: a machine that could tell, from just a sample of your blood, how you were going to die. It didn’t give you the date and it didn’t give you specifics. It just spat out a sliver of paper upon which were printed, in careful block letters, the words DROWNED or CANCER or OLD AGE or CHOKED ON A HANDFUL OF POPCORN. It let people know how they were going to die.The problem with the machine is that nobody really knew how it worked, which wouldn’t actually have been that much of a problem if the machine worked as well as we wished it would. But the machine was frustratingly vague in its predictions: dark, and seemingly delighting in the ambiguities of language. OLD AGE, it had already turned out, could mean either dying of natural causes, or shot by a bedridden man in a botched home invasion. The machine captured that old-world sense of irony in death—you can know how it’s going to happen, but you’ll still be surprised when it does."Machine of Death, ed. Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo, and David Malki.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	FIRE / ICE

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4449992) by jedusaur, which makes use of the same premise. Warning for discussions of character death and references to World War II and the Holocaust. Originally published [on Tumblr](https://aetataureate-ao3.tumblr.com/post/186095925430/fire-ice), July 2019.

There was never a requirement for the Avengers Initiative to get tested, the option was just there. Each team member came to it individually and then never talked about it. There was a certain personality type that they had failed to identify amongst themselves, one that didn’t brook unturned stones.

Tony’s said HUBRIS, which he scoffed at and immediately forgot about, since it wasn’t like it was new information. Natasha’s said SPINAL INJURY and Bruce’s said BRUCE BANNER and Clint Barton, of all people, got HEART ATTACK. The machine didn’t work on Thor—Phil Coulson had always been delighted by his, which read ACT OF GOD. He kept it framed.

Nick Fury’s cause of death was a state secret, and destroyed upon receipt. It just said COLORECTAL CANCER, though.

One evening Steve said “Zero-five tomorrow morning for training, yeah?” and Tony, reflexive, said “Die in a fire.” Steve jerked back like the word burned and Tony grinned. “Got it in one, did I?”

Routine screenings in enlistment centers began in 1941. The machine wasn’t in widespread use before then—if it had been, the Jews in Warsaw or the population of Hiroshima would have probably had an inkling that something was up a lot sooner. There was a vague thought that the machine could be used to recruit kids whose results weren’t things like SHRAPNEL and BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA and GUNSHOT WOUND, but that approach fell out of favor when it became clear that the machine was always right regardless, and besides, there wouldn’t be enough men to fill up the military otherwise. By then the policy was in place.

So Steve got FIRE and Bucky got ICE, which Steve privately thought and Bucky said aloud was a little too on the nose. FIRE was easy enough—Steve lived on the fourth floor and had asthma. Tenement fires happened all the time. ICE was a bit trickier, and Steve spent some time praying that Bucky would be sent to the Pacific front, which of course he wasn’t.

Time passed.

When Bucky fell from the train, ICE was the reason Steve knew he would survive it, and also the reason he knew he wouldn’t survive it for long. It was gutting and horrible.

With the nose of the Valkyrie pointed directly into the Atlantic, Steve’s last thought was _huh, so the machine’s not always right_.

The machine was always right. Steve came back. Bucky came back too, and Steve looked up at the sky and thought _Lord, so you’re telling me I might have to go through this again?_

Much later, it was nighttime. Bucky, warm, was holding on to Steve. “Do you ever want to know how it’ll all go down?” he asked. “Not even a little bit,” Steve said, because it was always better not to know.


End file.
